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Great Plains toad

Anaxyrus cognatus · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Great Plains toad (Anaxyrus cognatus): Olive to pale grey-brown toad, 47-115 mm, with large dark green blotches edged in white covering the back. Cranial ridges between the eyes diverge in a V and meet at the snout in a raised knob or shield (Woodhouse's toad has an L-shaped crest). This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Anaxyrus cognatus
Family
Bufonidae
In North America
Native
Range
Great Plains, southwestern US and northern Mexico: from southern Manitoba and southeastern Alberta south to central Mexico; east to western Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma, west to central Montana, Colorado and southeastern California.
Biology

How to identify it

Olive to pale grey-brown toad, 47-115 mm, with large dark green blotches edged in white covering the back. [1][2][3]

Cranial ridges between the eyes diverge in a V and meet at the snout in a raised knob or shield (Woodhouse's toad has an L-shaped crest). [1][2][3]

Faint pale stripe down the rear back; belly mostly white and rarely spotted. [1][2][3]

Spades on the heels of the hind feet for digging. [1][2][3]

Compared with the woodhouse's toad: Woodhouse's toad has an L-shaped cranial crest and a white back stripe rather than a raised snout shield with V-shaped ridges and large white-edged blotches. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a great plains toad before you act. Compared with the woodhouse's toad: Woodhouse's toad has an L-shaped cranial crest and a white back stripe rather than a raised snout shield with V-shaped ridges and large white-edged blotches.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Short-grass prairie, desert, semidesert shrubland, open floodplains and irrigated farmland, typically in stream valleys, on heavier soils than Woodhouse's toad. [1][2][3]

Breeds in temporary rain pools, flooded areas and fluctuating ponds. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Nocturnal and solitary; spends most of the year dormant in burrows 15-55 cm deep, emerging after heavy rain or at breeding. [1][2][3]

Males call with a loud continuous trill of 20-50 seconds from shallow rain pools and flooded areas. [1][2][3]

Sit-and-wait feeder on beetles, ants, moth larvae and other insects, mostly at night. [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Great Plains, southwestern US and northern Mexico: from southern Manitoba and southeastern Alberta south to central Mexico; east to western Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma, west to central Montana, Colorado and southeastern California.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

  3. Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Field Guide · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Field Guide